The present invention relates in general to containers for storing and transporting dental materials. It relates in particular to a container for holding and displaying ingots of precious metal, nonprecious metal, and metal alloy dental material.
Metals used in dental repair and reconstruction, for example, for making crowns and bridges, include precious metals such as gold and less precious alloys formulated to provide desirable properties of precious metals at less cost. Such reconstruction metals are generally delivered to a laboratory in the form of ingots. Dental reconstruction metals are sold in units of troy ounces. The weight of ingots is usually either one or two pennyweights.
Such metal and metal alloy dental materials are valuable products which may be scarce and expensive, thus it is generally economically preferable for a laboratory to maintain a minimum inventory of material. It is desirable, however, that an inventory position be readily and rapidly assessable to avoid material shortages. Preferably, the material should be readily accessible for use and for inventory check. It is desirable however that this inventory check be made without a requirement to count ingots stored loosely, and without the risk of spilling and mislaying loose ingots as they are counted.
Ingots of metal or metal alloy may carry a mark or logo which identifies, for example, the origin, weight, or type of the metal or alloy. This enables, for example, alloys to be distinguished one from another, and distinguished from precious metals of similar appearance. Preferably, a container for shipping and transporting such materials should allow logos on each ingot in the container to be quickly and positively identified. A container should also be designed such that it may be moved without the risk of ingots abrading against each other or being abraded by foreign objects. Such abrasion may remove a logo from an ingot making it difficult to identify.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for holding ingots of metal or alloy dental material.
It is another object of the invention to provide a system for holding ingots separately and securely.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a container for holding ingots wherein all ingots therein may be visible without opening the container and without removing them from the container.